Jerusalem - The Israeli army chief-of-staff, Gen Shaul Mofaz, said yesterday President Yasser Arafat's self-ruling Palestine Authority was becoming a "terrorist" entity and amassing weapons. He warned: "I do not think we will be able to show restraint indefinitely. In the face of continuing attacks against our territory, we will be obliged to retaliate."
Gen Mofaz accused top security officials of being involved in attacks against Israeli targets during the fivemonth wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence that has cost the lives of more than 420 people, 346 of them Palestinian. "The Palestinian Authority is becoming a terrorist entity," he said in a speech to officials from the state-affiliated Jewish Agency in Jerusalem. "The terror against us is driven not only by Palestinian opposition elements but also by the deep involvement of official elements."